Total bankers

Billy Bragg lays out his plans on bank bonuses.

Do you remember when the government bailed out the banks to the tune of £850bn? Didn't Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling insist that conditions be attached, that it would all be very strict and that, with the government as major shareholder, the banks would not be free to slip back into past excesses?

"[The deal] will carry terms and conditions that appropriately reflect the financial commitment being made by the taxpayer" - said Darling in 2008.

Back to today, and neither Labour nor the Tories are saying a word to the scandal that is quietly unravelling before our eyes.

RBS, where the governments owns a stake of 84%, have announced that they're about to dish up £1.5bn to £2bn in bonuses, with the board threatening to resign if not allowed to do so. Remember this is the same bank that in November 2009 announced plans to cut 3,700 jobs in addition to 16,000 already planned.

And yet they don't need to worry. There is no way anyone at Westminster is going to stop them.

Which is why the most sensible article I've read in response is the one penned yesterday by Billy Bragg in the Guardian.

"Until the chancellor of the exchequer acts to curb the bonus payments to investment bankers at RBS", the musician writes, "I am withholding my tax".

Bragg also highlights the discrepancy between both parties' professed commtment to cuts in public services versus their total lack of "will to do anything about excessive bonus culture".

If you agree with Bragg, then take a look at this campaign: NoBonus4RBS.